High schooler looking for feedback about a dress for a prom got kindness from a Missouri stranger — who could not foresee what followed

A young woman was looking for feedback about a dress to wear to her upcoming high school formal and decided to text her friend a photo. But instead of getting the sign-off from her peer, the student received an encouraging response from a Tennessee dad of six.

The hilarious exchange started when Sydney Uselton sent a photo of her in a dress to a number she believed to be her friend’s. Instead, Tony Wood received the text and decided to boost the student’s confidence … with the help of five of his six children.

Wood replied sending a photo of his kids with the message, “My wife isn’t home, so I couldn’t get her opinion, but the kids and I think you look stunning in your dress! You should definitely go with that one!”

“Society puts a lot of pressure on these young women to have a certain look and a certain body build,” he later told the Daily Mail Australia. “We try to teach our children to be themselves and not worry about what others think … Even with that, my young daughters already express a desire to ‘fit in’ and I figured this young lady might need that reassurance.”

Though the text exchange ended there, the story didn't.

The mistaken texts went viral on Instagram and Twitter after Uselton's friend Mandi Miller published screenshots of the conversation on her social media accounts, bringing attention to Wood's Facebook page and the GoFundMe page for his four-year-old son, Kaizler.

Kaizler, who was missing in the photo, was diagnosed with pre-B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2015, the Facebook page explains. The GoFundMe page was set up to raise funds for his cancer treatments.

Since the story of the mistaken text went viral, the page has received hundreds of donations. As of Monday afternoon, 917 people had made contributions, bringing the amount up to $26,165 — $16,165 more than the family's goal of $10,000.

The kindness and generosity of Twitter and other venues saw our gofundme account surpass our goal last night! I can't begin to thank everyone enough! This is a major hour of need for us and this blessing will help more than you know! God Bless all of you!